1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a drive point for a substantially tubular driven pile, wherein the drive point can be fitted onto a pile end of the driven pile, wherein at least one first support limb with a first support surface configured to abut an end face of the pile end of the driven pile is arranged at an inside wall of the drive point.
2. Description of Related Art
Drive points of that kind are used in the construction industry for making pile foundations. The individual driven piles which generally comprise ductile cast iron and are of predetermined lengths of, for example, five meters are fitted one into the other to produce a pile foundation. To facilitate inserting driven piles one into each other and thus extending the length of a pile foundation, the driven piles usually have a conically tapering first pile end and a second pile end which is shaped to provide a socket. In that way, the pile foundation can be driven into the ground pile by pile, whereby it is possible to produce pile foundations of any length quickly and inexpensively. Driven piles of that kind are usually produced in a centrifugal casting process with a shaping rotating mold. That results in substantially cylindrical tubular piles which are internally hollow. Depending on the respective kind of use, those tubular or hollow-cylindrical driven piles can be filled or encased with concrete or another suitable injection material to produce a stable foundation after having been driven into the ground.
To produce a so-called shaft-grouted pile foundation, a driven pile is fitted onto a drive point, the outside diameter of the drive point being greater than the outside diameter of the driven pile. In that way, an annular space can be produced during the driving-in operation, and that space can be filled with the injection material or concrete by a pressure grouting operation.
When making pile foundations with known drive points, the worker has to place the drive point on the ground and hold it during the mounting of the pile end of the driven pile into the drive point. As the driven piles to be mounted into the drive point are long and heavy, the holding of the drive point during the mounting is dangerous for the worker.